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Carbonate deposits related to active seeps are documented along most continental margins and are characterized by peculiar seep-related facies and by chemical (isotope signature), paleontological and mineralogical markers. Their fossil analogues are recognized all over the world by the same features and occurred since the beginning of Phanerozoic. In this paper, we present a new seep outcrop (Castagneto village, Reggio Emilia, northern Italy) belonging to the late Eocene Loiano Formation which, to our knowledge, is in Italy the most ancient seep deposit with not-reworked chemosymbiotic fauna The outcrop can be roughly divided into two portions, a northern part showing abundant presence of macrofossils in silty carbonate matrix and subhorizontal subdivisions, and a southern part, where macrofossils are almost absent, characterized by sub-vertical internal subdivisions and a clear vertical structure consisting of the rhythmic alternation of light and dark mineralization. Detailed analysis of samples from the southern portion showed the occurrence of authigenic calcite and pyrite, the latter with a peculiar framboidal texture. This feature, together with the occurrence of chemosymbiotic species and 13C isotope depletion, suggests possible hydrocarbon-rich fluid-related genesis and provides useful criteria for identifying hydrocarbon-rich fluid-related deposits in geologic units. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an overview on the response of the healthcare system in the area mostly affected by the 2016 Central Italy earthquake based on specific surveys and information from local health authorities. The authors collected in the field information on the seismic response capacity of the healthcare system. They surveyed five hospital complexes from medium to small dimension whose maximum capacity was up to 50 beds. This type of hospitals are representative of those ones present in the small towns located along the Apennines mountain range, usually including few buildings (i.e. 3–5) constructed in different periods and with different structural types. In all the surveyed hospitals there were partially or totally unusable buildings causing severe limitations to the functionality of the healthcare services, forcing to move many patients to other hospitals and to stop outpatient treatment. This was due mainly to severe damage to non-structural components and, in some cases, to moderate damage to structural components. In the present paper, two hospital case studies, namely "Tolentino" and "San Severino" hospitals, both located in Marche region, are analysed and discussed in detail in order to better understand their performance to the earthquakes, by also estimating their seismic risk via simplified methods, including the WHO Safety Index and the Cosenza and Manfredi (in: Fajfar and Krawinkler (eds) Seismic design methodologies for the next generation of codes, Balkema, Rotterdam, 1997) damage index. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rift-basins are the shallow effects of lithosphere-scale extensional processes often producing polyphase faulting. Their sedimentary evolution depends on the mutual interplay between tectonics, climate, and eustasy. Estimating the role of each factor is generally a challenging issue. This paper is focused on the tectono-sedimentary evolution of the Neogene Siena-Radicofani Basin, a polyphase structural depression located in the inner Northern Apennines. Since Miocene, this basin developed after prolonged extensional tectonics, first as a bowl-shaped structural depression, later reorganized into a half-graben structure due to the activation of high-angle normal faults in the Zanclean. At that time the basin contained coeval continental and marine settings controlled by the normal faulting that caused the development of local coarse-grained depositional systems. These were investigated to: (i) discriminate between the influences of tectonics and climate on sedimentation patterns, and (ii) provide detailed time constraints on fault activity. The analysed successions were deposited in an interval between 5.08 and 4.52 Ma, when a climate-induced highstand phase occurred throughout the Mediterranean. However, evidence of local relative sea-level drops is registered in the sedimentary record, often associated with increased accommodation space and sediment supply. Such base-level fluctuations are not connected to climate changes, suggesting that the faults generally control sedimentation along the basin margins. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]